India and the US have completed most negotiations on a bilateral trade pact, with officials now resolving final legal and technical details before a possible deal.
India and the United States are in the final stretch of negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement, with both sides now focusing on legal and technical refinements after months of talks. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said in The Hague that most of the discussions had been completed and that the two governments were now “fine-tuning the agreement”, signalling that a deal could be close.
Goyal made the comments during the India-Netherlands Business Forum while leading a business delegation on an official visit to the Netherlands. He also pointed to India’s broader push to deepen trade ties overseas, saying the country had concluded nine free trade agreements over the past four and a half years as it seeks wider market access and stronger economic links.
The latest remarks follow earlier signals from Washington that the pact was nearing completion. According to comments attributed to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, only a small number of issues remain unresolved, with most of the difficult areas already settled. That message echoes an update Goyal gave on October 15, when he said the first tranche of the India-US trade pact had been finalised and was undergoing legal drafting.
The agreement has been under discussion for more than a year and is intended to ease tariffs, widen market access and address long-standing disputes over agricultural goods, industrial products and regulation. In February, the two countries issued a framework for an interim arrangement that would reduce or remove Indian tariffs on a range of US industrial and farm products, including food and agricultural items such as tree nuts, fruit, wine and spirits. Even so, a report by Business Monitor International in early October suggested that deep divisions remained over market access, agriculture, purchases of US goods and India’s imports of Russian oil, although it said a narrower interim deal could still emerge.
Disclaimer: This article is intended to inform and educate, not to recommend or endorse any financial product, investment or strategy. Please consider your own financial circumstances and seek professional advice where appropriate before making financial decisions.
